We’re so honored and excited to have been featured in the most recent issue of Grass & Grain, a 60 year old Kansas publication. An article titled Elk Hunts Provide Agrotourism Opportunity On Southeast Kansas Farm, by Lucas Shivers, highlights the benefits of having a guaranteed elk hunt with Wehmeyer Elk Hunting.
Elk Hunts Provide Agrotourism Opportunity On Southeast Kansas Farm
Rather than hunting elk out west, Greg Stukey from Great Bend found an eastern opportunity with Wehmeyer Elk Hunting near Coffeyville.
“Last year, I went hunting in Colorado and saw only one herd in four days, and I never saw a shootable bull to match my tag,” Stukey said. “It was so expensive to hunt in Colorado.”
Capitalizing on a local option at the Wehmeyer hunting preserve the previous year in October 2009, Stukey hunted in Kansas and found many benefits.
“You’re by yourself, and you don’t have to worry about others hunting on top of you,” he said. “The lodging and meals are exceptional. The cost is not at all outrageous compared to the risks of being in the wild.”
Using a high-powered rifle, Stukey, who has hunted since he was eight years old, said the elk hunt was one of his best.
“I didn’t see anything on the first two days. But on the third day, I pushed into heavy timber to get the animal out and took my shot,” he said. “It was a clean kill in the first shot.”
Instead of dragging the animal out of the mountains, Stukey rolled the elk into a front-end loader bucket to drive it to a shed made to accommodate the elk’s massive size and fully equipped to dress it out.
“The next day I came home with the meat iced down in my truck bed,” Stukey said. “My buthcer said it was the cleanest animal he’d ever seen without any dirt or bruised meat.”
Joined by friends with health concerns unable to brave mountainous terrain, Stukey said he will be returning to Wehmeyer’s again this year.
“We have a buddy with diabetes who can’t walk far, so he can come with us on a four-wheeler,” Stukey said. “For someone wanting to go elk hunting without a lot of equipment or time, Coffeyville is a very nice place to go. You can’t be ashamed for the guarantee. We’ll be harvesting at least three elk this year.”
Establishing Wehmeyer Elk Hunting in 2003, Geral and Carol Wehmeyer, ranchers and producers, found a creative, alternative way to use their rural southeastern Kansas land.
“The land we have is not all cropland so we wanted to find a way to make a good use of it,” Wehmeyer said. “We researched it out and looked at different elk breeders in Kansas. It’s a form of agritourism.”
Creating the niche market for their herd of 40 elk, Wehmeyer said they make connections with hunters from across the state and country to arrange for hunts.
“A lot of hunters had nowhere to go,” Wehmeyer said. “It was too far for most hunters to travel out west to other states with higher gas prices and permit costs. We help them to stay closer to home to find exactly what they want.”
Wehmeyers advertise their hunts on their www.TrophyBulls.com website, by word of mouth and with print advertising.
“We have individuals, couples, corporate groups and families with multiple generations. Everybody’s been great with many repeat customers. One son got a high school graduation hunt.”
For hunters, no license is required. Sportsmen can use weapons of their choice from bows to black powder to rifles, Wehmeyer said.
“We have some people who have hunted out west who are not successful on their trips,” Wehmeyer said. “They don’t want to climb mountains any more. They just want the trophy.”
The Wehmeyers host elk hunts from October to February.
“Out in the open, hunters may or may not see an elk, and even they they have to be a pretty good shot. That’s nature,” Wehmeyer said.
“With us, you’re guaranteed a good hunt and to leave with an elk.”
Local taxidermists can mount the trophies and antler racks. And, the hunters have the meat to take home.
“It’s always good grain-fed meat,” Wehmeyer said. “It is very healthy with low cholesterol and fat.”
A modern lodge is located in the midst of the hunting grounds, overlooking fields to the south, and trees just to the north.
“They all just love the cabin,” Wehmeyer said. “If you book a hunt with us, you’ll be the only ones on the property.”
Originally built in 2001, the hunters’ cabin features modern amenities. The 1,200 square-foot addition built in 2008 added a fully furnished great room, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and dining room. Other amenities include a fireplace, billiards table, and big screen HDTV with satellite.
The Wehmeyer elk herd, inspected annually by the state, is free of chronic wasting disease.
“We are an accredited herd, which means we’ve built pens according to state regulations from the Department of Agriculture,” Wehmeyer said. “We get permits, and it takes a lot of record-keeping.”
One of the largest land mammals in North America, elk can top more than 1,000 pounds and tower more than nine feet tall with four-foot antlers. Also called wapiti, a Native American name meaning ‘light-colored deer,’ elk are related to deer. Although native to the plains area, elk mostly migrated west in the 1800′s.
Wehmeyer’s land is comprised mainly of heavily wooded oak forest and rolling hills of crop fields. Elk range forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, bark and grain. In addition to the grazing land, the elk consume a grain blend with copper and selenium.
“It is very important to provide them with quality feed especially while they are growing their racks from March through August,” Wehmeyer said.
To many Kansans, elk symbolize the restoration of a native component to the Flint Hills, yet hunting is limited to few areas.
One herd at Fort Riley was started in 1986 with 12 elk released near the Madison Creek area on Fort Riley from the Maxwell Game Preserve near McPherson, as well as elk from Colorado, Montana and South Dakota.
The current population on Fort Riley is about 125 animals. Yet to hunt elk on Fort Riley, permits are granted through a lottery drawing with plenty of competition and few earning a tag.
“We offer something different and unique,” Wehmeyer said. “The best part is all the friendships gained with all of the good people.”
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We give our utmost thanks and appreciation to Lucas Shivers and Grass & Grain for writing and publishing this article.
Be sure to check out their website and see the original source of this article.
November 29, 2011
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